Monkcher: 12 monk or 12 ranger?

[sephiroth1084]

Been away from the game for a couple of years and came back to find things have changed quite a bit. I had been in the midst of leveling my TR'ed monkcher who is currently split 6 ranger/6 monk/2 paladin and was trying to figure out which class to level now. This would be easier if he was an h/elf, but alas he is human.

As I understand it, the real differences end up being +1 crit range from AA at 12 ranger vs. the grab bag of monk class features from 7-12 including Improved Evasion and Abundant Step, along with the increased effectiveness of 10K Stars. That seems like it's leaning pretty heavily monk, but what's the consensus these days?

And, in general, is an elf, mostly monk the favored monkcher these days? If I were to go half-elf next life, what split is recommended? Also, is elf or half-elf generally favored for this? If helf, which dilettante?

[Rys]

Been away from the game for a couple of years and came back to find things have changed quite a bit. I had been in the midst of leveling my TR'ed monkcher who is currently split 6 ranger/6 monk/2 paladin and was trying to figure out which class to level now. This would be easier if he was an h/elf, but alas he is human.

As I understand it, the real differences end up being +1 crit range from AA at 12 ranger vs. the grab bag of monk class features from 7-12 including Improved Evasion and Abundant Step, along with the increased effectiveness of 10K Stars. That seems like it's leaning pretty heavily monk, but what's the consensus these days?

And, in general, is an elf, mostly monk the favored monkcher these days? If I were to go half-elf next life, what split is recommended? Also, is elf or half-elf generally favored for this? If helf, which dilettante?

The wings are too hard to give up. For me at least.

[unbongwah]

As I understand it, the real differences end up being +1 crit range from AA at 12 ranger vs. the grab bag of monk class features from 7-12 including Improved Evasion and Abundant Step, along with the increased effectiveness of 10K Stars.

There's also the +1d6 SA, +5m point blank shot range, and 10% Fortification bypass from lvl 12 DWS, but you've basically got the gist of it. 6 more monk lvls also means another +10% runspeed in addition to +30% Doubleshot during TTS (or effectively +15% DS on avg).

And, in general, is an elf, mostly monk the favored monkcher these days? If I were to go half-elf next life, what split is recommended? Also, is elf or half-elf generally favored for this? If helf, which dilettante?

You definitely want access to the racial AA tree now on any monkcher, IMO, which kills off all the half-pint AA builds we used to see (sorry, lil' guys!). Elf vs half-elf is more of a toss-up IMO, though HE definitely wins for burst DPS (racial Dmg Boost FTW). If elf you can spend your filler APs on DEX, Aerenal, and/or Shadow enhancements; on HE take heal amp, DEX, Dmg Boost, and maybe an extra rank of your dilly feat (rogue, cleric, or maybe barb would be my picks).

[sephiroth1084]

Thanks for the replies!

Follow-up question: does Advanced Ninja Training (Dex to damage) work with bows?

[unbongwah]

ANT's DEX to dmg works with any ki weapon; this includes bows if you have the Zen Archery feat AFAIK.